HPI Savage 5T - LST Shocks Conversion

The next upgrade that I see people doing is converting to LST shocks. Even though I already had the HPI big bore shocks, I still wanted to try the LST shocks. I personally would never call the HPI shocks big bore because it still looks tiny. On the other hand I never really had any trouble with those shocks either but I still wanted to use a shock that had a little more volume to it.

So far everything seem to fit without any major modifications and the mod I did do it because of my preference.

The only modification I did is used a larger screw for the upper shock mounts. I used the stock platic shock post from the LST and I drilled out the hole to fit a 4mm screw. The stock screw is so small and is prone to bending. That is why I used a larger screw.

At first I thought the lower shock mount would be strong enough as is. But, after talking to someone that did this same setup up, he said it will not work. Now I need to make a stronger lower shock mount similar to the Innovative-RC's design. Even if I wanted to buy the Innovative-RC kit I could not because they do not make it anymore.

I will start off with a bar of 6061 aluminum and cut a 3/4 inch off.

Once I cut it off I would need to clean up the ends so I have a flat surface to work with.

The most accurate way to clean it up in on the milling machine

Next I cut an even smaller block off. Ideally I should be able to make 4 mount from the first block of aluminum I cut off.

In this picture you will see the lines I mark to where I need to make the cuts.

This is my first cut and here is where the tabs that stick out from the A-Arms will drop in.

This is how it looks after I thined out the block a litte bit so there is a little tab that sticks out
so I can screw it to the a-arm where the shocks use to be mounted.

Here is another look at the mount

Test fit to make sure it does not hit or rub against anything.

Here I am drilling a hole through the arm and aluminum shock mount

I did not want the screw to stick out so I used a 1/8 end mill to enlarge the hole so the screw will
sit inside the A-arm

You can see in this picture that the screw is sitting inside the A-Arm

These are the holes to mount the shocks, I will need to tap each of the hole

Test fit to make sure it fits okay. I decided to use a nut and bolt to screw it down because it seems
like it would be stronger than tapping the aluminum.

Here is everything installed, with the LST harden aluminum threaded shock body with R/C Raven
dual rate springs (8.9 ppi at the top and 15 ppi at the bottom) and 35wt Losi shock oil.

Here is video of it in action. You can see in this video that this conversion handle pretty well and its fast too (I clocked it with my radar gun going 47mph).

Sorry for the poor video recording... this is my first time trying to drive and record with my camera (cell phone) at the same time.